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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Tomato Soup

Grilled cheese and tomato soup is total comfort food for me. Who doesn't love it? When I was little I would only eat tomato soup if I was dipping grilled cheese into it. Luckily I grew out of this, and I'm on a mission to find a homemade tomato soup worthy of becoming a replacement for canned soup.

Grilled cheese and tomato soup is a meal that we eat frequently once the weather cools down. I keep cheese and a can of tomato soup in the house at all times. Now that I see how easy tomato soup is, I'll just keep a few cans of tomatoes reserved specifically for soup instead. However, this particular recipe will not be my go to for tomato soup. It had a nice flavor, but it wasn't tomato-y enough to be a standard tomato soup.

Strain the chopped canned tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat 1/3 cup olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion and garlic, cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the roasted chopped canned tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, and add basil and cream, if using. Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth. Alternatively, you can puree in a regular blender. Be careful though, you don't want hot soup flying all over your kitchen (especially not tomato soup).

Tips for Blending Hot Soup:
Don't fill the blender more than 1/3 to 1/2 full.
Remove the cap from the hole in the blender lid.
Put the blender lid on tight and cover the hole with a towel.

Full disclosure: Red Gold sent me a variety pack of canned tomatoes to try.